Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8369, USA.
Prev Med. 2011 Jun;52(6):413-6. doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2011.03.013. Epub 2011 Apr 3.
Beverage taxes came into light with increasing concerns about obesity, particularly among youth. Sugar-sweetened beverages have become a target of anti-obesity initiatives with increasing evidence of their link to obesity. Our paper offers a method for estimating revenues from an excise tax on sugar-sweetened beverages that governments of various levels could direct towards obesity prevention.
We construct a model projecting beverage consumption and tax revenues based on best available data on regional beverage consumption, historic trends and recent estimates of the price elasticity of sugar-sweetened beverage demand.
The public health impact of beverage taxes could be substantial. An estimated 24% reduction in sugar-sweetened beverage consumption from a penny-per-ounce sugar-sweetened beverage tax could reduce daily per capita caloric intake from sugar-sweetened beverages from the current 190-200 cal to 145-150 cal, if there is no substitution to other caloric beverages or food. A national penny-per-ounce tax on sugar-sweetened beverages could generate new tax revenue of $79 billion over 2010-2015.
A modest tax on sugar-sweetened beverages could both raise significant revenues and improve public health by reducing obesity. To the extent that at least some of the tax revenues get invested in obesity prevention programs, the public health benefits could be even more pronounced.
随着人们对肥胖问题（尤其是青少年肥胖问题）的关注日益增加，饮料税也受到了广泛关注。含糖饮料已成为反肥胖行动的目标，越来越多的证据表明其与肥胖有关。我们的论文提供了一种方法来估算针对含糖饮料征收的消费税收入，各级政府可以将这些收入用于预防肥胖。
我们根据区域饮料消费的最佳现有数据、历史趋势和最近对含糖饮料需求价格弹性的估计，构建了一个预测饮料消费和税收的模型。
饮料税可能会对公共健康产生重大影响。如果不存在对其他含卡路里饮料或食物的替代，从每盎司含糖饮料征收 1 美分的含糖饮料税，预计可使含糖饮料的消费减少 24%，从而将目前人均每天从含糖饮料中摄取的卡路里从 190-200 卡路里减少到 145-150 卡路里。全国范围内对含糖饮料每盎司征收 1 美分的税，在 2010-2015 年期间可新增 790 亿美元的税收。
适度对含糖饮料征税既可以增加大量收入，又可以通过减少肥胖来改善公共健康。在一定程度上，至少部分税收收入投资于肥胖预防计划，公共卫生效益可能更为显著。
